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Alan Pattillo

Alan Pattillo

Editing

Biography

Alan Huchison Pattillo (17 July 1929 – 16 January 2020) was a British writer and director who worked on Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, and Thunderbirds television series. He won an Emmy in 1979 alongside Bill Blunden for his film editing on All Quiet on the Western Front. During the 1960s, Pattillo worked on several Gerry Anderson projects. He directed episodes of Four Feather Falls, Supercar and Fireball XL5. His work on the latter is regarded as having brought added sophistication to the direction of the series. Pattillo then worked again for Anderson on Stingray as director, before performing a number of roles on the next series from AP Films. For Thunderbirds Pattillo served as script editor, director, and writer. He directed four and wrote seven of the thirty-two episodes (including Attack of the Alligators!). Aside from his work on Gerry Anderson projects, Pattillo had a varied career in the film industry. He provided the story for a 1967 Diana Rigg era The Avengers episode The Bird Who Knew Too Much, which The Times television review noted as being "quite striking". Pattillo worked as the sound editor on Nicolas Roeg's Performance (1970) and again worked with the director as film editor on Walkabout (1971). He was the sound effects editor on Alan Parker's Pink Floyd: The Wall (1979). His work on All Quiet on the Western Front (also 1979), saw him awarded an Emmy for film editing, an award he shared with Bill Blunden. He later worked as associate editor on the film Gandhi (1982) directed by Richard Attenborough.

Known For

Fireball XL5
6.4

Fireball XL5 is a science fiction-themed children's television show following the missions of spaceship Fireball XL5, commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol. The show was produced in 1962 by husband and wife team Gerry and Sylvia Anderson through their company APF, in association with ATV for ITC Entertainment. While developing his new show, Anderson thought a brand of motor oil—Castrol XL—had an interesting sound. A phonetic change created the name "Fireball XL", with the "-5" added as the title seemed a bit flat without the numeral. The show featured the Andersons' Supermarionation, a form of puppetry first introduced in Four Feather Falls and Supercar and used again in their subsequent productions such as Stingray and Captain Scarlet. Thirty-nine black and white half-hour episodes of Fireball XL5 were made on 35mm film: all future Anderson series were produced in colour. Several Anderson series have been shown in syndication in the US, but Fireball XL5 is the only Anderson series to have run on a US network. NBC ran the series in its Saturday morning children's block from 1963 through to September 1965. A similar programme often confused with Fireball XL5 is Space Patrol, produced by Gerry Anderson's ex business partner and co-founder of AP Films, Arthur Provis due to a number of similarities and settings.

Fireball XL5

1962Series